President Biden said he has been “deeply involved” in ongoing hostage negotiations between Israel and Qatar, which is representing Hamas, adding in a news conference that he is “mildly hopeful” about those efforts. Hamas has agreed in principle to a tentative deal to free some hostages, with Israel weighing its response, The Washington Post reported, citing an Arab diplomat familiar with the negotiations. Israeli forces remained inside al-Shifa Hospital about 18 hours after a raid inside the complex began, according to the Israel Defense Forces and a doctor in the hospital. The IDF released images and video showing small arms and military uniforms around hospital equipment, with Israeli officials pointing to radio equipment and computer discs as evidence of a Hamas command center. The Post was unable to independently verify whom the items belonged to or how they came to be inside the complex. White House spokesman John Kirby, when asked whether the images fell short of corroborating Israeli claims of a major Hamas command center, said the United States remains “comfortable” with a declassified intelligence assessment that Hamas has used, and is using, Shifa as a “command and control node.”
